Union Notables is a celebration of the great men and women who have studied and worked at Union from its founding in 1795 to the present day. Union College has a rich and wonderful past, and has helped shape some of the greatest minds of the 19th and 20th centuries. As we move into the future, we continue to look back at those who have been here before us, and at their extraordinary achievements.

Chester Alan Arthur
(1829-1881)
Class of
1848

Chester Arthur was the twenty-first president of the United States (1881-1885).

Andrea Barrett
(1954-)
Class of
1974

Born in Boston on November 16, 1954, Andrea Barrett grew up on Cape Cod and came to Union College to major in Biology.

Theodore R. Berger
Class of
1972

Dr. Theodore W. Berger is the David Packard Professor of Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology, and Director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California.

Philip R. Beuth
Class of
1954

When he was young, Beuth took a paper route in his native Staten Island to help his widowed mother raise him and his brother. He never thought he could afford Union College until he met Frank Bailey, class of 1885.

John Bigelow
(1817-1911)
Class of
1835

At Union, Bigelow was a serious student who pursued his interest in books and reading by spending long hours in the library.

Helena Binder
Class of
1976

Helena Binder has distinguished herself as an actor, director of plays and musicals, and director of opera.

Baruch Samuel Blumberg
Class of
1946

Baruch Samuel Blumberg, M.D. is best known for his discovery of the “Australian antigen,” a human antigen that provokes antibody response against hepatitis B.

Daniel Butterfield
(1831-1901)
Class of
1849

Born on October 31st, 1831, in Utica, New York, Daniel Butterfield attended Utica Academy, and then graduated from Union College.

Charles Frederick Chandler

Charles F. Chandler came to Union College in 1857, a twenty-three year old Harvard grad with a Ph.D. from Gottingen at age nineteen.

Civil War

Union alumni and others from the College were key witnesses and makers of history in the Civil War era. Their stories are told in an exhibit, Profound & Poignant: Union College Connections to the Civil War Era.

Estelle Cooke-Sampson
Class of
1974

Physician, humanitarian, officer. Estelle was one of the one hundred women in Union's first coed class.

Lee Losee Davenport
(1915-2011)
Class of
1931

Dr. Davenport was a physicist best known for his development of anti-aircraft radar that was instrumental in the Allied victory in World War II.

Philip G DiSorbo
Class of
1971

DiSorbo became the first employee of Hospice of Schenectady, which was founded at Union College in 1980.

Ruth Anne Evans

Ruth Anne Evans was by all accounts one of the most accomplished librarians and one of the most knowledgeable college historians ever to work at Union College.

Armand and Donald Feigenbaum
Class of
1942 & 1946

In 1968, the brothers founded General Systems Company, an engineering firm that designs and helps implement operational systems for corporations worldwide.

Franklin Henry Giddings
Class of
1878

The life of Frank Henry Giddings exemplified three characteristics that still live at Union.

Sue J. Goldie
Class of
1984

Goldie's application of Decision Science methods to public health resulted in her being named a MacArthur Fellow in 2005.

Gordon Gould
(1920-2005)
Class of
1941

Known best for his invention of the LASER, a term that he coined, and for his thirty-year struggle for patent rights.

John Hartranft
(1830-1889)

Civil War hero, governor of Pennsylvania, presidential candidate and key figure in the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination.

Robert Holland
(1940-)
Class of
1962

Holland attended Union College and was President of his class from 1959-1962.

Alan F. Horn
(1943-)
Class of
1964

Alan Horn brought the unforgettable characters of the Harry Potter series from the pages of J. K. Rowling’s novels to the “big screen.”

Franklin B. Hough
(1822-1885)
Class of
1843

Franklin B. Hough is remembered as the “Father of American Forestry.”

Edward Kane
(1918-2011)
Class of
1940

Kane's degree in chemistry helped ensure his subsequent success, which included becoming president of one of the nation’s largest, science-based products companies: DuPont.

Linda Klein
(1958-)
Class of
1980

Linda Klein’s successful career as a lawyer reflects her commitment to her clients, fellow bar members, and non-profit organizations.

Ilene S. Landress
(1961-)
Class of
1983

Landress launched a successful career producing movies and TV series, such as HBO’s highly acclaimed The Sopranos.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow
(1836-1870)
Class of
1856

Fitz Hugh Ludlow, during the short thirty-four years of his life, was known as a poet, critic, fiction and travel writer, and journalist.

Lewis Henry Morgan
(1818-1881)
Class of
1840

After studying at Cayuga Academy, Morgan entered Union College as a junior in 1838 and graduated in 1840.

Eliphalet Nott
(1773-1866)

Nott was an entrepreneur, teacher, minister, scholar, inventor, and a powerful influence on American higher education in the 19th century.

Robert Porter Patterson
Class of
1912

Patterson was among the most important people responsible for shaping the allied victory in World War II.

John Howard Payne
(1791-1852)
Class of
1810

John Howard Payne is the author of the lyrics to the song "Home, Sweet Home."

Elias Peissner
(1825-1863)

Elias Peissner‘s political activity as a young student in Bavaria led to his exile from his native country to the United States, where he became the only member of the Union College faculty ever to give his life in military service.

Edward Tuckerman Potter
(1831-1904)
Class of
1853

Potter's work literally stands front and center at Union College: he designed the Nott Memorial, the President's House and the Feigenbaum Administration Building.

Joseph Ramee
(1764-1842)

It was Ramée who helped make the campus a distinctly new college model for post-Revolutionary America.

Andrew Van Vranken Raymond
(1854-1918)
Class of
1875

Many argue that Andrew Van Vranken Raymond saved Union College from extinction.

Phil Alden Robinson
Class of
1971

In a sense, Robinson launched his career with the completion of his senior project, a documentary on “The New Deal Coalition”.

Richard Selzer
(1928-)
Class of
1941

Selzer, whose writing describes the responsibilities, rewards and challenges of being a surgeon, is a pivotal figure in medical humanities.

William Henry Seward
(1801-1872)
Class of
1820

Seward graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Union College in 1820, where he impressed classmates with his “remarkable assiduity and capacity of acquirements.”

Howard Simons
Class of
1951

Howard Simons, one of the country's leading newspapermen, was Managing Editor of The Washington Post from 1971 to 1984.

Charles Proteus Steinmetz
(1865-1923)

True to his philosophy of education, Steinmetz pursued an unusually broad course of studies, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, electricity, physics, and political economy.

Nikki Stone
(1971-)
Class of
1995

Stone is a former Olympic aerial skier and graduated from Union College in 1995.

Richard Templeton
Class of
1980

Templeton is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI), a global Fortune 500 company.

Allen Wright
(1826-1885)
Class of
1852

Wright’s public career began in 1856 when he became a member of the Choctaw Council.

Joseph Christopher Yates
(1768-1837)

Yates was a lawyer, statesman, politician, and founding trustee of Union College.